Garbage and rendering apparatus.



G. S. WHEELWRIGHT. GARBAGE AND RENDERING APPARATUS.

ARPLIOATION-IILED SEPT. 26, 1908.

Patented June 22, 1909.

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G. S. WHEELWRIGHT.

GARBAGE AND RENDEBING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION mum snm'. 26,,1908.

925,970. Patented June 22, 1909.

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CHARLES S. WHEELWRIGHT, OF BRISTOL, RHODE ISLAND.

GARBAGE AND RENDERIN G APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 26, 1908.

Patented June 22, 1909.

Serial No. 454,904.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES S. WHEEL- WRIGHT, a citizen of the United States, and residing at Bristol, in the county of Bristol and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Garbage and Rendering Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has been made with especial reference to the connection or passageway between digesters and extractors used in what may be termed the hot water process in removing oil from tankage in garbage and rendering plants. An example of the extractor with a full description of its construction and mode of operation will be found inmy Patents No. 783,602, dated February 28, 1905, and No. 890,112, dated June 9, 1908. In the last named patent is shown a casting forming the inlet to the extractor adapted to be secured to a casting forming the outlet of a digester. A general description of the construction and mode of operation of the digester used in carrying out the present invention will be found in my Patent N 0. 77 1504, dated November 15, 1904:, except that the conical bottom of the digester and the interior wall of the outlet thereto and the interior wall of the inlet to the extractor are in line as shown in the drawings herewith annexed.

The invention herein described is in fur therance of a continued process of which the digester and extractor perform but portions, and is designed to obviate the necessity for disconnecting the digester from the rest of the apparatus by which the entire apparatus is worked. It happens not unfrequently that the outlet to the digester or the inlet to the extractor becomes clogged with rags or similar substances so that tankage will not pass to the extractor, whereby the entire apparatus is held up it may be for hours. Accordingly, one part of my invention consists in means for obviating said difficulty and embodies the combination with the digester of means adapted to force the contents of said passageway through the passageway. I employ in combination with the digester and extractor a steam ram adapted to work along the conical bottom of the digester into the passageway connecting the digester and extractor. It so happens, however, that as shown in said former patent 890,112 there is already working across said passageway a steam valve gate or knife substantially at right angles to the path of the ram, and thus it has become necessary to provide means whereby the said devices shall not interfere with each other in their operations, and an essential part of my invention consists of means whereby either rain or valve gate may perform its ofiice separately, without interfering with one another, or both may be withheld from operating.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a view of so much of a digester and extractor as is contained in the present invention, including the ram and the valve gate and means for operating both. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the ram showing more fully the construction thereof and its connection with a steam cylinder by which it may be operated, independently of devices for operating the valve gate. Fig. 3 shows the ram at right angles to the view of the same shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 41 is a cross-section of the ram on the line lt of Fig. 3.

A is the digester. A is the lower or conical section thereof. A is the mouth of the digester. B is one of the supports of the digester, a flange A from the digester resting on said support. Vith these parts is CO1]1 bined means whereby in the normal or regular operation of the machine the material is caused to positively flow through the digester to the outlet. As shown such means consist in a rotating screw E within a suit able casing. coacting with one by which the material is fed to the upper end of the digester as set forth in my aforesaid Letters Patent. P is a passageway between the digester and extractor consisting of several strong castings across one of which operates a valve gate V by means of a piston T in a steam cylinder S, as appears in my said Patent No. 890,112, and as will more fully appear herein.

The ram and operative parts (see F 2) will first be described. C is a bracket secured to the digester by bolts 0, o. D is an opening near the top of said conical section A at one side closed by a cover E bolted to the sides of said opening by bolts 0, 0. The said cover is provided with a stufling box F in and through which works a piston rod t which is formed in two parts, 1 and 2, and which is provided with a joint or hinge H. The part 2, at its lower end is cast with a projection or swelling 3, which increases in size, as shown, to the middle portion there.- of, whence it tapers to near a point at the extreme end. One side of the projecting portion 3 of the piston rod is curved, as shown, to conform to the round shape of the conical bottom of the digester, (see Fig. The upper end of said piston rod is secured to the piston T having a reciprocating motion in a steam cylinder S accordingly as steam is admitted to one side or the other of the piston, as hereafter described. The cylinder S is provided with cylinder heads N, N, buffers P, P, and stufling box F in the usual manner, and is held in a support R, cast upon the end of curved bracket C before mentioned. The bracket C is of such shape that the steam cylinder S lies in a continuation of the line of the conical bottom of the digester and the exit pipe P so that the piston rod i may normally work close to the wall of the digester. The piston rod t as before stated, is provided with a hinge H which is formed, as shown at Fig. 3, by a bolt Z passing through forked projec tions 26, t from part 2 of the piston rod and a tongue from part 1 of the piston rod, the said tongue t being rigidly secured to said part 1 by a wedge 10 passing through a hole near the end of said part 1 and corresponding holes in a cup on the end of the tongue F. The bolt Z and wedge Q0 are secured in their respective positions by cotter pins 3 3 While I have found that a ram and actuating devices for carrying it to and from the discharge opening is effective, I do not limit myself to the use of a ram since any other suitable means for clearing the discharge opening as required would embody this feature of my invention.

The part of the invention consisting in means whereby either the ram or the valve gate must perform its office separately, or both be withheld from operating, will be best understood from a description of the mode of operation of certain steam cylinders, pistons, piston rods, valves, and steam passageways governing the movements of said ram and said valvegate, as illustrated in the drawing at Fig. 1, where the valve gate V is shown as across the passageway P that being the position of said gate as shown in my said Patent No. 890,112, to which posit-ion it has been carried by steam entering the steam cylinder S, as will be described, and exerting its force upon one side of pistons T. [In the drawings but a sin gle cylinder and piston are shown but in practice there are two cylinders with pistons one on each side of said passageway P the two piston rods being connected by a yoke Y to which the gate is attached] Steam is supposed to be on at pipe P and to have forced valve V to its seat 6 thereby cutting off communication between pipe P and pipe P" leading to cylinder S which is used as before stated in connection with the ram. The valve V has a stem working through its said seat 6 into the interior of said cylinder S, being furnished with suitable packing. So, too, steam is on at main entrance pipe I but valve V is off its seat, having been pushed up by pressure of the nut on piston rod z" upon valve stem ficarried by valve V and a passage is made for steam from main entrance pipe P through pipe P leading to valve cock 0 which has been so turned by hand lever B as to admit steam from pipe P through bent pip'e P to one side of piston T thereby forcing the said piston T to the bottom of cylinder S, carrying with it the valve gate V across the entrance passage P, the position shown in the drawings. (It may be assumed that entrance pipe P and entrance pipe P are supplied with steam from the same source.)

A study of the steam pipe connections of the apparatus will show that while the piston T is thus held at the end of its cylinder S in turn holding the valve gate V across the passageway P in no possible way can steam be admitted by valve cock to cylinder S to force piston T toward the end of its cylinder next the digester and carry the ram operated by said piston T down into the passageway P across the path of said valve gate V But if lever B operating valve cock 0 be now turned by hand so that steam coming through pipe P will be diverted through pipe P to the other side of piston T, causing said piston to travel to the other end of cylinder S and thus withdrawing the valve gate from across said passageway P, the said piston in its travel to the said other end of cylinder S will cause its piston rod to press against valve stem 1, lifting valve V from its seat, thus offering a. passage for steam from entrance pipe P through pipe P to valve cock 0 which may be so turned by lever R as to admit steam through bent pipe P to the upper side of piston T and send that piston down the digester carrying the ram into the said passageway P And while the ram is thus in the said passageway the gate will be prevented from crossing the said passageway for reasons similar to the reasons which kept back the ram while the gate was closed.

By manipulating the hand levers R and R both the valve gate and the ram can be withheld from closing or entering the passageway P but said hand levers R and R cannot be so operated that the valve gate and ram shall simultaneously cross the path each of the other.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. The combination with a digester having a discharge opening at the lower end, of supplemental means within said digester movable to and from the discharge opening and adapted to act on material clogging said opening to push said material through said opening, and actuating devices without said digester adapted to operate said means within said digester.

9.. The combination with a digester having a discharge opening at the lower end of a ram within said digester adapted to move down into and back from said opening, and actuating means for moving said ram whereby the said ram is the means of positively and directly pushing any obstruction through the discharge opening.

3. The combination with a digester having a discharge passage leading from the lower portion thereof to a vessel or chamber adapted to the further treatment of the material cooked in said digester and discharged therefrom through said passageway, of means arranged to act on material within said passageway and push it longitudinally in a direct line through the same.

l. The combination of a digester having a discharge passageway leading from the lower portion thereof to a vessel or chamber adapted to the further treatment of the material cooked in said digester and discharged therefrom through said passageway, of means arranged to act on material within said passageway and push it longitudinally through the same, and actuating devices for operating said means.

The combination of a digester having a discharge passageway leading from the lower portion thereof to a vessel or chamber adapted to the further treatment of the material cooked in said digester and discharged therefrom, the said passageway having therein a gate adapted to close said passageway, with devices for positively and instantaneously operating said gate and means adapted to act upon said material in said passageway and push it through said passageway when the said gate is open.

6. The combination of a digester having a discharge passageway leading from the lower portion thereof to a vessel or chamber adapted to the further treatment of the material cooked in said digester and discharged therefrom, the said passageway having therein a gate adapted to close said passage way, with means for instantaneously oper ating said gate and means adapted to act upon said material in said passageway and force it through said passageway, the ar rangement of said means being such that either is prevented from operating when the other has operated, and that both can be prevented at any time from operating.

7. The combination with a digester such as is employed for cooking garbage and articles of similar nature, provided with a conical bottom end and with a discharge opening at said end, of a steam ram, and means to reciprocate it parallel to the said bottom to and from said opening.

8. The combination with a digester having a tapering bottom with an opening at the point, of a ram within said digester adapted to move down said tapering bottom into said opening to push obstructions through said opening, a fluid operated piston outside of said digester, and means extending through the wall of said digester for operating said ram from the piston.

0. The combination with a digester such as is employed for cooking garbage and articles of similar nature, provided with a conical section at the lower end, of a steam ram adapted to work along the bottom of said conical section against articles in the mouth of the digester, the said ram being made tapering to a point.

10. The combination with a digester having a tapering bottom with an opening on one side at the point, of a ram within said digester adapted to move down said tapering bottom into said opening, a fluid operated piston secured to said digester above the top of the tapering portion in line with the ram and opening, and a piston rod extending through the wall of the digester and secured to said ram.

11. The combination with a digester having a tapering bottom with an opening at the point, of a rain within said digester means for reciprocating said ram to and from said opening whereby it can operate to push obstructions through said opening, a fluid operated piston outside of said digester, a piston rod extending from said piston into the digester, and hinged connection between said piston rod and ram.

12. The combination with a digester havingatapering bottom with a discharge opening in one side at the point, of a bracket secured to the digester at the side opposite the opening, a fluid operated piston secured to said bracket parallel with and im1nediately above the upper end of the tapering bottom, a piston rod extending through an opening in the wall of said digester, a stuffing box for said piston rod, and a ram within the digester secured to said piston rod and adapted to enter said discharge opening.

13. The combination with a digester such as employed for cooking garbage and articles vided on its upper surface With an enlargeof similar nature, provided with a conical inent tapering toward the ends. 10 section at the lower end, of a steam ram In testimony whereof I aflix my signature adapted to Work along the bottom of said in presence of tWo Witnesses.

conical section against articles in the mouth CHARLES S. WVHEELWRIGHT.

of the digester, the said ram having an Vitnesses:

under surface of such shape as to lit the VILLIAM W. SWAN,

Wall of the conical section and being pro- IDA E. HANDREN. 

